Modernisto’s Mission

The editors obviously love modern living. And why not? We live in a time where sushi can be found at the supermarket and mac ‘n cheese with fried chicken can break the bank at an upscale restaurant. The boundaries have gotten pretty blurred between geek and chic, simple and sophisticated, exotic and everyday – and we couldn’t be happier about that. Modernisto aims to share the enjoyment we find in this new topsy-turvey world through our experiences with food, travel and stuff that we think is just plain cool.

Staff

Editorial

Dawn Xiana Moon has visited 16 countries and includes France and Singapore on her list of favorite culinary destinations. She’ll try eating anything once as long as it’s dead (and not an insect – she hates insects). She takes her chocolate very seriously. Best truffles: Pascal Caffet. Best unsweetened cocoa for use in hot chocolate: Valrhona. Conversations with her may cover the following topics: the differences between the Lord of the Rings films and books, Shakespeare, great tweaks to Mozilla Firefox, who would win in a fight between the Daleks and the Borg, theology, and the importance of good art. She is also a graphic/web designer, swing dancer, and singer-songwriter. You can listen to her combination of folk, pop, jazz, and traditional Chinese music at DawnXianaMoon.com. [Email]

Michi Trota is an urban gourmand and unrepentant carnivore. She likes her wine red, her beer local, her coffee black and her tea Earl Grey, hot. Her dream list for a kitchen includes: open layout to the living area, 6 burner gas stove, light wood cabinets with dark stone countertops, iridescent glass tile backspashes and one of those nifty special faucets installed above the stove for filling extra tall pots. She also likes playing with fire, whether it’s grilling buffalo burgers or spinning poi and fans at the Chicago Full Moon Jams. Her favorite foods include bacon, chocolate, and any combination thereof, which is why she tries to keep active – past events include the Chicago Shamrock Shuffle 8K, The Chicago Half-Marathon & Chicago Triathlon. She can quote from Dune, LOTR and practically any John Hughes flick at will, has her McFarlane’s Predator & Alien toys displayed at work and still keeps her comic books all bagged and boarded (but would like to point out that at least she’s never been a LARPer. Ever). [Email]

Technical

Cristopher Boyer